U.S. Moves To Curtail Nuclear Weapons Shipping

U.S. Takes Steps To Curtail Nuclear Weapons Shipping

Asked whether U.S. exercises in the Coral Sea to train military forces to seize arms, missiles and other weapons from ships could be seen as a plan to prevent North Korea from exporting weapons, McClellan said, "This is a partnership, a cooperative effort with countries all across the world to counter proliferation."

The exercises are part of a program, known as the Proliferation Security Initiative, that President Bush and other world leaders announced at a May meeting in Krakow, with 11 nations participating, McClellan pointed out.

"[T]hose are exercises that we said would be carried out in partnership with other nations to prepare -- to make sure that we are better prepared to interdict operations that involve proliferation," said McClellan.

North Korea is "probably the most serious proliferator of missiles and related technologies," said the press secretary.

"The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is a serious concern," he said. "It is something that we are moving forward on in partnership with other countries committed to eliminating that threat or reducing that threat."

© Scoop Media